The End of Solution SalesCustomers don't need salespeople – so sales leaders need a new playbook.

Why Solution Selling No Longer Works

The Old World: Sales reps successfully diagnosed customers’ needs, aligned their products to those needs, and sold them solutions that are better than their competitors.

The New World: Companies readily define solutions for themselves – courtesy of more sophisticated procurement teams and purchasing consultants armed with troves of data.

The Proof: A CEB study of more than 1,400 B2B customers across industries revealed that 57% of a typical purchase decision is made before a customer even talks to a supplier.

The New Sales Playbook

To understand how high performers are navigating this new environment, CEB launched a series of studies across 6,000 reps, 600 companies and 700 customer stakeholders. The research found that top performers don't sell more effectively – they sell completely differently.

Top performers have abandoned the traditional playbook and devised a novel, radical, sales approach built on three specific strategies.

About CEB's Support for Sales and Marketing Executives

CEB is a best practice insight and technology company. In partnership with leading organizations around the globe, we develop innovative solutions to drive corporate performance. This distinctive approach, pioneered by CEB, enables executives to harness peer perspectives and tap into breakthrough innovation without costly consulting or reinvention. The CEB member network includes more than 16,000 executives and the majority of top companies globally.